God's Final Offer and Plea.
“Therefore I will judge you, Oh house of Israel, every one according to his ways,” says the Lord Yahweh, “Return you, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions, so will they not be a stumblingblock of iniquity to you.”
It is unquestionable that this was a new emphasis for the house of Israel. Of course, in the past men had been responsible for their own sins, and had been judged accordingly. This is clear from many incidents in the past. But their main emphasis had been on Israel as a whole, and the behaviour of their kings and leaders, and their response to it. They had been as one within the covenant. They had seen themselves judged as groups and as a nation.
Now the emphasis was to be on each individual and each family, and how they responded towards God and the covenant. Those who sinned would die. Those who responded to Him and walked in His ways would live. It had become a personal thing in preparation for the new covenant which would transform individual lives. It was the beginning of a new perspective.
The house of Israel would still be judged, but man by man instead of as one. Each could return to God and turn from their transgressions, thus removing the stumblingblock caused by their iniquity, by their wrong and unjust behaviour. None would be blamed for the sinful actions of the group unless they participated in them. It was a firm movement towards individual accountability which would later result, among other things, in the teachings of the Pharisees and the teaching of Jesus and the early church.